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Our culture's river of vision is carrying us toward catastrophe. Sticks planted in the mud may impede its flow very slightly, but we don't need to impede its flow, we need to divert it into an entirely new channel. If our culture's river of vision ever begins to carry us away from catastrophe and into a sustainable future, then programs will be superfluous. When the river's flowing where you want it to flow, you don't plant sticks to impede it. Beyond Civilization

New book from Daniel Quinn! If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways "One of the most troublesome questions I've been asked--and it's been asked hundreds of times--is: 'Where do these strange ideas of yours come from?' In the beginning, I thought it was just the usual where-do-you-get-your-ideas? question that all authors receive. My readers soon set me straight. Read more ... Excerpt 1 Excerpt 2 Excerpt 3

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UNIT 4 Vision and "The Invisibility of Success"

Quinn thinks we can't "win" just by defending the environment. Why does he believe this? Do you agree?
As the basis for a paper or research project, have students find examples of products that have come to be the way we know them because a series of individuals have "improved on something, then put it out there for others to improve on."

According to Quinn, people imagine that our distant descendants will have different gadgets and wear different clothes but will think just the way we do. Review the Star Trek films with this question in mind: Aside from gadgetry and imaginary science, do the captain and crew of the Enterprise think differently from the way we do?

Aside from the "Star Trek" future, what other possible futures does Hollywood see for humanity?

Quinn says each of you contains a complete set of the memes that are the conceptual building plans for our culture. Suppose the whole human race disappeared except for you and your classmates. Would you know how to go about rebuilding society? How would you begin? Compare this to what happens in post-apocalyptic movies like The Stand, Waterworld, and The Postman.

Back to UNIT 3 Vision and "The Invisibility of Success"

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Ahead to UNIT 5 Genes and Memes